Family? What a joke coming from you
by ChloeHollingsworth
Summary: Luke and Jess don't have the best of relationships,but when something is really wrong with Jess, Luke will always be there to pick up the pieces.
1. Chapter 1

It was another busy morning in the diner and Luke was not in the best mood. Though it was not unusual for Luke to be cranky, his attitude was much worse today and the customers had realized it was in their best interest not to provoke him. Last night Luke had gotten in a fight with his nephew, and though that was a pretty normal occurrence, this had been different. They had gotten into an argument after Jess had come home around 2:30 in the morning. It had somehow ended up with Luke telling Jess that he regretted taking him in. Jess had stopped yelling at that point. He had looked at Luke with hurt evident in his eyes. Luke had tried to apologize, but Jess simply ignored him and went to sleep. He realized it was past time for Jess to be heading to school, so he yelled to Caesar to watch the diner for a few minutes while he made his way up the stairs to his apartment. He opened the door to see his nephew was still asleep. Rolling his eyes, he made his way over to Jess' bed, carefully avoiding the piles of books. He stopped when he heard a muffled noise come from his nephew. Jess began tossing and turning, thrashing around. Luke was stunned. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. Were you supposed to wake up someone having a nightmare, or would that make it worse? Luke was torn from his thoughts when a deafening scream escaped his nephew. Jess shot up in his bed with a wild look in his eyes. Luke crouched down in front of his nephew.

"Jess! Jess, it's okay, it was a nightmare. You're Okay."

Slowly, Jess seemed to focus on his uncle. He sighed heavily and turned away from Luke, avoiding eye contact. Luke definitely noticed that and was hurt that Jess didn't feel comfortable enough with him to show his emotions. But, then again, Jess didn't show his emotions to anyone. He always wore this mask of indifference. Now, Luke might not know much about his nephew, but even he realized it was a mask. He knew this like he knew the sun would rise again tomorrow. Occasionally, Jess' mask would falter, just long enough for you to get a glimpse of what was underneath.

Luke came back to reality when he heard Jess ask him, "Why are you looking at me like that?" To be honest, Luke hadn't even noticed he _was_ staring at his nephew.

"Oh, um, no reason….are you okay, Jess?"

"I'm fine." Jess quickly got out of bed. He rummaged through his drawers, picked out some clothes, and headed for the bathroom. Luke was still rooted to the ground. He was worried about his nephew, there was no doubt about that. He was shocked from seeing Jess so… well not Jess. Jess always had this wall around him. Seeing that wall not there…it was difficult to take in. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Luke began to head downstairs. He stopped in the doorway and turned back around and walked to the bathroom. He knocked on the door.

"What?" came Jess' angry response.

"You don't have to work in the diner today, if - if you're not feeling up to it." Luke waited at the door for a minute before realizing Jess was not going to respond. So, he continued on back to his awaiting customers.

"Luke, you know, you're not supposed to keep your customers waiting," the all too chipper Lorelai

Gilmore quipped. "Especially the pretty ones."

"Coffee?"

"Yes, please!" Luke grabbed a mug and filled it before slamming it down onto the counter, nearly shattering the mug.

"Um, I know you're not usually all smiles and giggles, but isn't this a little much, even for you?"

"Sorry. I'm just in a bad mood."

"Well, yeah, I can see that." Luke only grunted in response.

"What'd he do?"

Luke looked up at the unexpected question. "What?"

"What did he do?" Lorelai asked a little slower this time.

"Who?" Luke asked, confused.

"Jess. What did Jess do?"

Luke half laughed, though it came out sounding vicious. "Why do you assume Jess did something?"

"Uh, because you're in a terrible mood and he's _Jess."_

"_What is that supposed to mean?"_

"_Well, he's known for putting you in a bad mood, that's all."_

"_Yeah, he has a way of doing that."_

"_So?"_

"_So what?"_

"_So, he did do something?"_

"_Not.. Not exactly. I mean not really." Lorelai just stared. "We got in a fight last night."_

"_About what?" _

"_He came home at two in the morning and we got into it. I… I told him I regret taking him in."_

"_Oh Luke." _

_Jess pushed through the curtain suddenly and Luke's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when he saw his nephew standing there, blood streaming down his face._


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh my God!" Lorelai shrieked, the entire diner turning to stare at Jess.

"Jess, _what the hell?_" Luke practically yelled, rushing to his nephew's side. He picked up a towel from the counter and held it against the huge gash on Jess' forehead.

"What _happened_?" Lorelai asked, her voice full of concern. Jess didn't reply. Noticing that Jess looked about ready to pass out, Lorelai's maternal instincts kicked in. "Honey, sit down," She said, moving a stool over for Jess. Lorelai took the towel from Luke's hand and pressed it to Jess' still bleeding wound. Luke stood there, not knowing what to do. He'd never been good with injured kids. Hell, he was never any good with kids period. "Luke." Lorelai's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Can you get some band aids, Neosporin, and a wet towel?"

Luke nodded his head, thankful that Lorelai was there to help. He cam back downstairs quickly, handing a first aid kit to Lorelai. "Thanks," she said, offering him a smile. Luke always found it amazing how she managed to keep so calm during situations like these, when it was taking all his willpower to not have a panic attack. He honestly had no idea what he'd do without her. Lorelai removed the blood soaked towel from Jess' head and began rifling through the first aid kit.

Jess leaned back against Luke who placed his hands in what he hoped was a comforting way on his nephew's shoulders. Luke was thinking about how he had become accustomed to having Jess around. The kid was a pain in the ass, no doubt about that, but he wasn't all bad. Though he didn't say it, Jess showed that he cared by helping close up the diner or doing the dished or a million other little things like that. Luke knew Jess was really a good kid, but the circumstances in which he grew up in were not the best. Hell, Jess' mother was practically certifiable and though Luke loved his sister to death, he often found himself questioning whether or not she was fit to raise a child. Luke broke out of his thoughts when he heard Lorelai saying his name.

"Luke, he's going to need stitches." It took a moment for Lorelai's words to register to him.

"Oh. So I should probably take him to the hospital then, huh?"

"Unless you'd prefer to sew his head shut yourself, yes," she replied with her usual sarcasm.

"I'll pass," Luke deadpanned. He looked down and realized Jess had closed his eyes. Not knowing what to do, Luke looked to Lorelai. She lightly gripped Jess' forearm and shook him gently.

"Jess. Jess, honey, wake up." Jess' eyelids slowly fluttered open. He fixed his gaze on Lorelai, though she noticed he seemed pretty out of it still. "Luke's going to take you to the emergency room, okay?" Jess sat up straight and Luke dropped his hands from his shoulders. He slowly stood up and immediately leaned against the counter, gripping the edge of it. Luke reached a hand out to steady Jess, but the gesture went ignored

"Can you walk?" Luke asked tentatively. 'I'm fine' was the curt reply Luke received. Jess pushed himself off the counter and fell as soon as he did. Luke caught his arm before he could hit the ground, but Jess had lost consciousness. Luke laid him gently on the floor as Jess started convulsing. Luke was frozen in panic.

"911 what's you emergency?"

_**Sorry for my horrible characterization! **_

_**Hope you enjoyed it anyways.**_

_**Let me know your thoughts(:**_


	3. Chapter 3

Luke crouched down next to his seizing nephew, but had no clue what he was supposed to do. Lorelai had called 911 and Luke could hear her explaining the situation and giving the address to the diner. Jess had stopped seizing an was now laying motionless on the tile. Luke was amazed at how small his nephew looked, just laying there out cold on the dirty floor.

Lorelai bent down next to Luke and rested her hand on his shoulder.

"The ambulance should be here soon," she said gently.

Luke didn't even seem like he had heard her. He simply stared at Jess, unblinking.

The paramedics showed up a couple of minutes later, rushing in with a stretcher. Luke was so lost in his own thoughts, his eyes fixated on Jess, that he hadn't heard the commotion behind him. He was unaware of the paramedics presence until one of them touched his shoulder and he jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Sir, we need to get to him," the medic said, gesturing towards a passed out Jess. Before the paramedics words even registered to Luke, the other paramedic that was bent down next to Jess yelled out, "Get the paddles, we don't have a pulse!"

Luke stood up, wanting nothing more than to grab his nephew and shake him until he woke up, but was held back by a strong hand. Luke tried to shake the offending touch off, but the hold on his bicep only tightened. Luke turned to see who it was that had a death grip on him and was surprised to see it was Taylor. _What the…Crap._ Luke had completely forgotten that the diner had been occupied. That meant he would have to close up before leaving and worse, that meant the entire town had just watched Jess collapse and have a seizure. At the thought of his nephew, Luke immediately returned his focus to the present. There were three medics around Jess. One was feeling for a pulse, one was injecting something into Jess' vein and the other was rubbing two paddles together before putting them to Jess' chest. Luke watched as his nephew's back arched upwards before crashing back to the floor. The medics tried again, still nothing.

"Keep trying!" the medic that was checking Jess' pulse yelled. And they did, one more time. This time, though when Jess' body feel back onto the tile the paramedic yelled with relief, "We got a pulse!" There was a collective sigh of relief in the diner as they all let go of the breath they had been holding.

The paramedics quickly lifted Jess and strapped him to the stretcher before rushing him into the back of the ambulance. Before slamming the door, the youngest looking of the paramedics leaned out and yelled to Luke.

"Sir, are you riding with him?"

Luke, who was rooted to his spot, didn't respond right away. He was having trouble thinking clearly and forming coherent sentences.

"Sir?"

Taylor pushed him forward a little, but it was all Luke needed to pull himself together. He rushed to the ambulance and hopped up into the back. The doors were immediately slammed shut behind him and he looked down at his nephew. Jess had an uncomfortable looking oxygen mask covering his face and two IVs sticking out of his arm. He gently picked up one of Jess' hand. His skin was clammy and cold to the touch which worried Luke.

Luke was not a particularly religious man, but he closed his eyes and prayed, something he hadn't done since his mother died when he was younger. _Please, just let him be okay…_

**Wow it's been awhile, huh? I know this is short, but I want to update my other stories tonight too. You can look forward to the next six chapters of this story sometime during December. **

**Let me know your thoughts(:**

**Thanks to all those that have reviewed, it really means a lot!**


	4. Chapter 4

Good news! Starting December first, I will be posting a new chapter for all of my stories for the 25 days of Christmas. That's right - that's 25 new chapters. Just my way of saying thank you to all of my wonderful readers and reviewers!


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